Roman Jasinski

A premier danseur, he was recognized for his elegance and style, in both his dancing and choreography, which was fused with unorthodox ballet movements and port de bras that he learned from previous teachers, such as Balanchine.

Born in Warsaw in 1907, Jasinski began his dance studies as a boy when one of his sister's friends encouraged him to audition for the ballet when she noticed his amazing feet with a high instep.

In Europe, when children are accepted into the ballet, the government takes over all expenses for schooling and dance courses, which made Roman's parents both very excited and pleased.

Roman received much encouragement for dance from his family and was able to have a chance to leave the country of Poland for advanced opportunities.

After he graduated from his ballet school in Poland, Roman went to Paris and worked for Bronislava Nijinska, Vaslav Nijinsky's sister, in her newer dance program.

In 1933 Jasinski joined the Ballets Russe de Monte-Carlo, where he danced works by the leading choreographers of the time, such as George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine and Bronislava Nijinska.

He would say that he "couldn't afford an injury" at the start of his involvement with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, because all the repertory was placed on him and only one other male dancer.

[2] After his son was born, Roman stopped dancing and opened a ballet school in Tulsa, since that's where Moscelyne Larkin lived, for a nice quiet life.

His son was more important to him than anything else, so Roman managed to get released from all dancing contracts, having someone else take over his performing roles and transitioning to retirement.

The transition from being a professional dancer to a father and teacher was not difficult for him as he had always envisioned starting the Civic Ballet to replace his dancing career.